Multipurpose Biorefineries for Advanced Biofuels and Value

DIVISION OF FOOD SYSTEMS AND BIOENGINEERING
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI
Food for the Twenty-First Century
Bioprocessing and Biosensing Center
Spring 2015 Seminar Series
PRESENTER:
Dr. Caixia “Ellen” Wan, Assistant Professor
MU Department of Bioengineering
TITLE: Multipurpose Biorefineries for Advanced Biofuels and Value-Added Co-Products
ABSTRACT:
Biomass is renewable, domestic, and sufficiently available resources, and has great potential to
replace petroleum resources for producing energy, fuels, and chemicals. A viable and sustainable
biomass-based refinery, also called biorefinery, offers many societal benefits, such as ensuring
energy security, lowering greenhouse gases emission, creating jobs in rural areas, and creating new
revenue streams for farmers. A biorefinery consists of multiple stages, i.e. feedstock production
and logistics, conversion processes, product upgrading/utilization. Each stage has opportunities
and challenges. Production of biofuels and bioproducts in integrated multipurpose biorefineries
offers the most cost effective approach to achieving the goal of building a biobased industry. In
this seminar, Dr. Wan will present novel paradigms for multipurpose biorefineries with a special
focus on biomass conversion. In addition, future opportunities for next generation biorefineries
will also be discussed.
BIOGRAPHICAL:
Ellen Wan is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the
University of Missouri. Dr. Wan earned a B.S.E in Food Science and Technology and a M.S. in
Fermentation Engineering from the Jiangnan University in China. After her graduation with a
master degree in 2004, she worked in industry for two years. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in
Biological Engineering from the Ohio State University in 2011 and completed her postdoctoral
research in the Mississippi State University in 2013. Dr. Wan’s current research interests mainly
include biomass conversion into biofuels and biobased chemicals, fermentation process and
optimization, and bioprocessing for soy-derived materials and polymers.
DATE • TIME • LOCATION:
Tuesday, Apr 14, 2015, 4:00 PM, 107 Agricultural Engineering Building
The Food for the 21st Century (F21C) program at the University of Missouri (MU) was established in the mid-1980's through state funding. The overall
goal of the program is to help Missouri food producers and processors maintain their competitive edge in the global marketplace by conducting cuttingedge research in a number of food-related areas. The program involves faculty researchers from multiple colleges including College of Agriculture, Food
and Natural Resources; College of Arts and Sciences; College of Engineering; School of Medicine; College of Human Environmental Sciences; and
College of Veterinary Medicine. Based on the research emphases, the researchers are grouped into four Clusters: Plant Biotechnology; Animal
Reproduction; Bioprocessing and Biosensing Center; and Human Nutrition.
Bioprocessing and Biosensing Center was formed in 1986. The Center currently consists of 27 faculty members, plus collaborators, support staff, and
graduate students from six departments in the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and College of Engineering. These departments
include Bioengineering; Food Science; Animal Sciences; Chemical Engineering; Electrical Engineering; and Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering. This seminar is one of the educational activities in the Bioprocessing and Biosensing Center.
Cluster Co-Leaders: Drs. Fu-hung Hsieh and Jinglu Tan
Department of Bioengineering, 254 Ag Eng, 1406 E. Rollins Street , Columbia, MO 65211 -5200
Phone: 573.882-7044
Fax: 573.882.1115
For More Information: Linda Little (573-882-7044)
F21C Seminar W eb: http://fsb.missouri.edu/seminars/
Bioengineering W eb: bioengineering.missouri.edu/